Hydraulic coupler valve construction



Oct. 21, 1952 R. M. ULRICH HYDRAULIC COUPLER VALVE CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 10, 1950 tions. it found that: the vibration may uncouple these portions and, hence, it would be. desirable .to provide a simple latchto obviatmthisdisadvan- "tage.

Patented Oct. 21, 1952 HYDRAULIC COUPLER, VALVE CONSTRUCTION Raymond iMu'Ulrich, Roanoke, $111., assignore-to .Ulrich Foundation, Inc a corporationof Dela- Application August 10, 1950, SerialN0. 178544 i The present invention relates. to: an improved separable coupling for fluid conduits.

"separable hydraulic couplers are becoming more widely used for interconnectingthe fluid conduits between a source of power, usually carried: on a tractor, and an actuating or control =mechanismcarried onwan implement drawn by the tractor. In many eases'it isdesiredj to:pro-

vide: a relatively simple and economical-coupler which, when separated, seals each member so .as to prevent the loss of fluid.

"In providing a simple, -economioal-coupler :there are certain considerationsin the: construction, which are believed'tolbe desirable. For a simple coupler a bayonet connectionis common- 1y employed between-themale and female por- Under certain conditions it has been Furthermore, inthe-construction of as simple olosure mechanismv it has been found. desirable we; provide :improved means for guiding the closure ball so as to maintain itiin axial alignment when-the valve is open.

1 It, thereforais an object of the present invention to provide an improved separable coup-ling particularly suited for hydraulic conduits.

Still anotherobjectof the present invention is to provide a relativelysimple and economical coupling .havinga simple, inexpensive latching member .forhmaintaining the coupling portions Lin coupled relation. .flStill another object of the present invention is to, providean improved closureball guide mechanismior a separable coupling.

.,A still .furtherobjeot of the present invention is to provide an improved limit stop construction for p a closure-ball,-which also serves to reduce fluid turbulence.

Other and further objects of the present invention subsequently-will become apparent by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing where- Claims. (Cl.-284--18) 2 Figure 4 is a view. as 'seendnitheidirection ofthe arrows alongsthe line. L A- ofFigure l. p

In accordance with the present inventionrarelatively simple'coupling device llzcomprisese Vicmale member I3 and a male mernber-la. Thefemale member is provided {with a; pair; fv i-nclined @slots Hi, "which are engaged by a. pin. 1 Kiwcarried by thermaleamember i2. Thedinclinedqslots M .terminatein a straight portion; somewhat similar to bayonet slots, but haveg only wery slight recesses, @which provide for a slightly/retroactive movement onsthe part ofttheamale member. .This

is due to the faotthat the .male and -female-membersware provided with ball closures, which are displaced from? the. valve. seatsby contactv with each other and-hence; for -maximumjefliciency it Figure l is a cross-sectional view of "a-coupler in coupledrelation embodying the features of the present invention;

Figure 2 is another cross-sectional viewshowing-the elements of the coupler of Figure 1 in uncoupled positions;

'Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view as seen in the direction of the arrows along the line 3 3 of Fig- 1 tire I; and

is necessary toamaintainuthe valveseats oi -both :the male and femalewmembers closelyadjacent. Any: appreciable separation therebetweeni-would lessen the size of the opening and might furthermore introduce increased turbulence. in the fluid flow. i

The female member '15 13 is: provided: atione end with a cylindrical opening ;i6-:f0r receivingwthe male member. "Within the opening 16"."1111813, is provided an annular recess l'lrfitted with aqpackingringsuch as' the O-ringilii. The; O-ringl8 engages the cylindrical-outersurface-ofqtheimale member prior-t0 the time that theiclosurevballsof the two. members are. displacedtfrem theirrespective seats; andhence, asealedpassage isprovided prior to the flow/of" fluid through :the, coupling "members. i In :order to conveniently ;1atoh the male membeninto position; the female portion is provided with an inclined s10t-1i9-intowhich is fitted a latchingspring'fli havingmd-jacent its outer extremity asuitablekaperture for-receiving one of the extremities of the pin' 1 5. ZE'F'IOm [the representation shown in Figure;- 4711) willpbe observed that'it is necessary tormoveqthe-latching spring 2| to the dottediline position inworder-qto free or unlatchthe pin so :thatiitmay be rotatedsin the. slot I l :to "the: dotted linewpositionzto permit uncoupling. of the two members. i

The female member l3. is'providedwitha; cylinidrical bore'u22 terminating-in a seat?:23-. The valve seat-23, asimayibe seen from Figure 2,. is engaged by a closure ball 24. "Thefemalermemher [3 is furtheruprovided with.another;bore"25 of reduced diameter having a threaded portion "26 engaged bythe threaded end. of aconduitil. The difference between the diameters of-the .two

bores 22 and'2'l-provides a shoulder. Zilywhich is engaged by a transversely arranged; support'329 having a central opening-30 andrradiallyextending legs 3i. Each of the legs 3i, of which there may be three or more, have curved configurations, as is apparent from Figures 1 and 2, sothat the members 29 may be inserted into the bore 22 by passage through the bore 26. The radially extending legs 2! are sufiiciently resilient that they will snap into position and engage the shou der 28.

The transversely arranged support member 29 is engaged by a spring 32, which urges the ball 24 towards closed position. The spring 32 when compressed, as in Figure 1, is completely enclosed by a sleeve 33, which serves a plurality of purposes. The sleeve 33 engages the ball 24 to limit its axial displacement from the valve seat and to guide the ball so as to maintain it in axial alignment. In addition, the sleeve 33 serves to reduce the turbulence of the fluid flowing through the passage, which otherwise might be greater if the convolutions of the spring 32 were engaged by the how of the fluid through the conduit.

The male member has a bore 34, which is slightly smaller than the bore 35, terminating in a valve seat 35.

The valve seat 36 is arranged to be closed by the ball closure 3?. The difference in diameters of the bores 34 and 35 provides a shoulder 38, which is engaged by the legs of the transverse support member The member 39 has a plurality of legs sl, having the same configuration as the legs SI of the member 29. A spring 42 is interposed between the support as and the closure ball 37, and the spring is surrounded by the guide and limit stop sleeve 43.,

From the representation shown in Figure 1, it

will be appreciated that when the male and female portions of the coupling device are connected together, the closure balls 24 and 3'! touch each other and, hence, are displaced from their seats by amounts determined bythe limit stop sleeves 32 and .2. By so limiting the movement of the closure balls, positive assurance is obtained that each of the balls will be displaced the same distance irrespective of any minor variations, which might occur during manufacture, in the pressure exerted by the springs 32 or 42.

In the copending application, Serial No. 762,048, there is disclosed a method of making an adjustment to determine exactly the allowable displacement of the closure ball from itsseat.

Accordingly, in the assembly of the present construction, force is applied to each closure ball by a member which forces the ball to a position where it is tangent to a member engaging the outer surface of its respective valve seat. This produces a certain permanent deformation in the 2 legs of the transversely arranged support member, which engages the spring engaging the closure ball. Hence, it will be appreciated that in the construction shown, the distance each ball may be moved from its seat is accurately and permanently predetermined.

Each of the transversely arranged supports 29 or 39, having radially extending legs 3! or M, are preferably formed of material so that the transversely arranged legs have a certain amount of resilience. The resilience of these legs, however, is appreciably less than the resilience of the coiled springs 32 or 42. The resilience of the radial legs in addition to permitting the support to be snapped into position, serves another purpose when it is desired to couple the units together when one of the conduits is under fluid pressure. If it is assumed that conduit '21 extends to a hydraulic cylinder, which is elevating a load such as a grader bucket or a wagon box, the

weight on the piston and cylinder will produce a certain fluid pressure. Assuming that the coupler has been uncoupled while the piston in such cylinder is in extended position, the pressure of the fluid against the ball 24 will resist attempts to displace the ball when the male portion I2 engages the angular slots [4. This makes it rather difiicult to manually couple the two portions together, if it is assumed that a displacement of the ball 35 against its stop 43 is the only movement which can occur. Quite obviously the ball 31 will be displaced from its seat without moving the ball 24 during the coupling operation since there is a greater force being exerted ball 31 has been moved as far as possible and yet the ball 24 has not been displaced from its seat. Hence the two coupling units are not yet connected together.

Further efiorts to connect the coupler together will produce a deflection of the transverse support 39 to an extent suiiicient to permit the two halves of the coupler to be connected together. Thereupon the ball 2 will be displaced from its seat. This difference in resilience between the spring which normally urges the ball toward closure and the resilience of the stop member greatly facilitates coupling together the coupler while one of the lines is under hydraulic fluid pressure.

While for the purpose of illustrating and describing the present invention a preferred construction has been shown in the drawing, it is to be understood that such variations in the construction are contemplated as may be commensurate with the spirit and scope of the invention set forth in'the accompanying claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A separable cylindrical hydraulic coupling having male and female members each' having a passage provided with a shoulder and a valve seat, a closure ball for each seat, a support having a plurality of radially extending curved resilient legs engaging said shoulder, a spring mounted between said support and said ball, and a' stop sleeve surrounding a portion of said spring, said ball closures being limited in their movements and held in axial alignment in engagement with each other by said sleeves when said members are coupled together.

2. In a separable hydraulic coupling the combination comprising a member having a'passage terminating in a valve seat, a closure ball in engagement with said seat, said passage having a shoulder therein, a coiled spring urging said ball toward said seat and mounted on a support member arranged transversely of said passage and having resilient radial legs engagingsaid shoulder, said legs being less resilient than said coiled spring, and a stop member sleeve for said ball, said sleeve surrounding said spring for limiting the compression of said spring whereby further force applied to said ball will cause flexure of said legs.

RAYMOND M. ULRICH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 617,591 Miller et al Jan. 10,1899 905,916 Orr et al. Dec. 8, 1908 1,293,604 Woolever Feb. 4, 1919 1,965,692 Dodge July 10, 1934 2,322,449 Johnson et al June 22, 1943 

